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Not all plants are created equal when it comes to their sunlight requirements. A plant that needs full sun might not produce as many flowers and the color intensity might suffer if it's in a shady spot. Shade plants grown in the sun can scorch, wilt and die. Before you begin planting on your property, you should monitor all areas of your yard so you can calculate sunlight exposure. This ensures that when you buy a new plant, you know exactly where in your yard it will thrive.

1

Draw a simple chart with each area of your garden written vertically down the left side of the page, such as "vegetable garden," "walkway borders" and "patio." Write times of day across the top of the page, beginning at 7 a.m and continuing with each hour until dark. Draw horizontal lines across the page between the different garden areas and vertical lines between times of day, creating blank fields for you to track the sunlight conditions. Graph paper will help keep your lines straight.

2

Calculate the sunlight conditions on a clear day so that clouds do not affect your data.

3

Walk through your yard at 7 a.m. with your chart in hand. Observe the sunlight conditions in each space, and fill in the corresponding blank field on the chart. Write "sun" if there is no shade to the area. Write "partial" if the area is roughly equally covered in sunlight and shade. Write "shade" if the space receives no sunlight.

4

Walk through the yard again at 8 a.m. and note the sunlight conditions under the corresponding column on the chart. Walk through the garden in the same order as you did at 7 a.m. so that the same amount of time will have elapsed since recording each garden area. For example, if it takes you 20 minutes to do the walk-through, but you reverse the order, it will only have been 40 minutes since you recorded the sun in one space, but 80 minutes since observing the first space on your chart.

5

Walk through the garden at the beginning of each hour throughout the day until you fill in all the fields on your chart.

6

Write the name of each garden area on a separate piece of paper. Refer to the first area listed on the chart. Count the number of hours labeled "sun," "partial," or "shade" from your report. Record the total number of hours of each sunlight condition under the corresponding heading on the new piece of paper.

7

Label the area as "full sun" if the space received six or more hours of direct sunlight throughout the day, especially during the peak hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Partial sun, also called light shade, receives three to five hours of direct sunlight. Partial shade areas receive about two to three hours of sunlight throughout the day. Label the space as "full shade" if it received less than one hour of sunlight throughout the day; the area might also receive some filtered sunlight or reflective light. Deep shade receives no sunlight at any point throughout the day.

Things You Will Need

Paper

Pencil

Tip

Sunlight calculations are especially important in all areas during summer when the weather is hottest and the sunlight is most intense. The sun changes positions slightly throughout the year, so you should chart the sun's exposure in spring, summer, fall and winter if you live in a frost-free area where you plan to grow plants throughout the year.

About the Author

A former cake decorator and competitive horticulturist, Amelia Allonsy is most at home in the kitchen or with her hands in the dirt. She received her Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University. Her work has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle and on other websites.